E3 – Persona 4 Arena Ultimax Hands-On Preview

E3 – Persona 4 Arena Ultimax Hands-On Preview

In true Arc System Works tradition, here is a fighting game that isn’t just phenomenal, but also wacky as all hell. Nevertheless, that’s part of the charm behind them all. As such, Persona 4 Arena Ultimax is no exception to this, proving to be another fighting game that I just feel like I need so much more of. With experience in playing a lot of Guilty Gear and BlazBlue, I was able to grasp the controls right away pretty easily, but there’s something especially satisfying about Persona 4 Arena Ultimax.

I played two matches with two completely different characters: Teddie, a veteran character who originally debuted in Persona 4, and Yukari Takeba, one of the new additions to the roster who originally debuted in Persona 3. While I found myself getting into Yukari’s long-range style of fighting, I ultimately found myself kicking the most ass with the adorable Teddie. As technical as Arc Systems Works fighting games, Persona 4 Arena feels surprisingly simple to get into, all the while keeping the style and deep combat system you would expect.

Similarly, battles play out with fluid character animations and lovely visual effects to add an intense fighting experience. Most interestingly, however, is the inclusion of Shadow versions of many of the characters. This essentially makes two different versions of each playable fighter, a darker version of the character and their respective personas, including some changes to their movesets. While not a wild change, it’s definitely an interesting addition to change things up a bit. Plus, an evil glowing eyed Teddie is just scarily adorable.

You can look forward to all the new action and additions to the fighting series when Persona 4 Arena Ultimax arrives in North America on September 30th and Japan on August 28th for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.